Soon it will be too warm, but that doesn't make riding hard as much as cold weather does.

50F, gray, tiniest bit of mist.

A common feature of every ride this month has been chicks - geese, usually, and turkeys. I get the feeling their attrition is pretty high. The geese are too brave and the turkeys are dumb. There's a colony of geese hanging out on the northwest bank of Lake Natoma, and they are brazen. The adults just stand or sometimes even sit on the warm bike path pavement while the chicks forage and cross at random. Yesterday afternoon, I saw a family of geese set out across Hazel Avenue by the aquatic center. This is a rush hour choke point because it feeds a bridge over the American River from US 50 to Orangevale and Fair Oaks, and it's six or more lanes wide depending how you count. The sidewalk here is up against a retaining wall here so they couldn't really go back, they could only follow the sidewalk, or cross. The first adult cut in front of me to get into the road, and the fuzzy little ugly ducklings followed along. Traffic stopped for them northbound. I didn't hang around to see how they fared southbound, which is not choked and going 55+. This morning, it was a family of turkey chicks that I flushed out of the weeds on an unpaved path near the same place. The lead one made it right in front of me and my tire struck it. I think that it knocked him aside and he didn't get run over but I'm not certain.

My bum ticker is feeling good yesterday and today and I'm trying to figure out why. Today I'm trying to copy yesterday's diet just to see if I feel the same.

We have geese all around where I live. They wander all over various neighborhoods between different lakes and ponds. I hate 'em, they're so filthy. They leave loads of crap all over the ground wherever they go. And they're mean, hissing and even charging if you look at them wrong.

Modern dinosaurs.

Headwinds have increased each morning this week as have the temps. The rides home have been wicked fun!

A good ride with some breezes here and there.

The crazy winds of the previous two days finally died down this morning. A little cooler with temps in the upper 50's, but a beautiful morning commute!

Today marks my 300th consecutive bicycle commute. The last time I drove to work was on Feb. 10th, 2016.

Lest I get too full of myself about this accomplishment, yesterday I met a guy here in town that hasn't owned a car in over seven years. While that's an accomplishment in a larger metro area with public transportation options like an extensive bus system, subways, trains or Uber, it's downright amazing in our area that doesn't offer these options. At best we have a minimal bus system that doesn't cover the whole city and runs on a limited schedule. No trains, subway or Uber. You might be able to get a taxi if you're willing to call and wait a while. That guy pretty much has to rely on his legs 100%. He makes me look like a lightweight.

Rode yesterday to visit my next college campus, 10 C and 40-50 km/h wind gusts, a good ride.

Very fast ride home, 15 miles in just 49 minutes on the e-bike with a 22 mph tail wind!

Had one guy on a Harley act like an a-hole on the busiest 1-mile stretch. After I topped a hill I was still going 22-24 mph when the guy passed me while yelling "need'ta get dat sh$@! off'da highway!". We were coming up to a light and I thought I might say something but he got there on green and turned left, while I caught the red and went straight. Oh well, a-holes gonna be a-holes I guess.

Good ride this morning. No winds, temperature about 46 and a little foggy. Saw two bungie cords and a microwave oven on the side of the road. The oven looked like it was new and had fallen off a truck and popped out of its box. Shame really.

-Shin

Yesterday I rode in pretty hard, and my body was tired. Upon leaving work, I told myself to take it easy on the way home. That wasn't entirely possible, as I had a heavy crosswind which felt just like a headwind. Not only that, I left quite late, around 7pm, and by then, most of the people on my route (on foot and on bike) were there for enjoyment, not commuting. It was the first hot day of spring, and thousands of people were out there.

Sometimes I get frustrated at how people don't respect the bike path and our speed. They don't look before crossing the path and whatever. But I realize they are there to have a good time, and hypervigilance cannot and should not be on their minds. Over the years, I've developed more alertness and skill than the average person, so I shouldn't resent people who don't have those things. I should use them for good. With generosity, I looked after their wellbeings even as they didn't look after mine or their own. I had to ride slowly around them. A preschooler ran out in front of cyclists, escaping his father's grip. We slowed to keep him safe as his father ran after him. These things are bound to happen, so we have to be ready for them. And those who are old enough to know better don't know better, so I'll treat them as if they're children, and I'll try to do so graciously. I'm tired of my resentment of imperfect conditions.

45F partly cloudy nice!

It only just occurred to me, I think the geese on the north side of Lake Natoma are more secure because they're seeing less traffic thanks to the landslide

I rode in from home yesterday. Morning was fine but became dead tired on the way home. Probably a combo of high temp, headwind and an unusual amount of chafing in the bib. Yeay. I'm taking it easy today with park and ride and easy ride back to the car later on. I think the chafing yesterday might have been due to sweating more in the short. Do you guys use baby powder or chamois cream on the longer rides on hatter days? My usual fix has been vitamin A&D cream in the nether region before I go to bed. It usually fixes me up by morning.

Edit: was reading this: https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-avo...-shorts-365654 and found out that some folks even use KY jelly as a chamois cream. Interesting. Was thinking of trying something like Chamois Butt'r some day...

Temps were in the mid 40s this morning with a 20-25mph north wind coming right at me. Yesterday I had my chain replaced, only to find out my rear cassette was damaged too. I chose to ride with the new chain until the new cassette arrives Friday.

My nine speed cassette starts "skipping" around in gears 4,5, and 6. All others ride smooth and quiet.

Going into the wind this morning, I had a fun little game of finding the "sweet spot" by shifting up and down in the front three chain rings, and only using gears 1,2,3,7,8,9 in the rear. :)

[MENTION=25132]ptempel[/MENTION], I apply A&D in the mornings as a preventative. I think any oil or ointment or gel should do, so use whatever you like. Hemorrhoid ointment should be good, too, even if you don't have a hemorrhoid.

Might as well try A&D before the ride also. We still have 1 or 2 tubs and maybe a tube of the stuff since we used to use it for our son's diaper rash. :)

I have a tub of "Udderly Smooth" that I bought at the hardware store years ago, and apply only if going on a very long ride, or already feeling the burn from the day before. I haven't used it up yet

Yesterday.. Wednesday.. was the strongest wind I've dealt with. In one spot I was already going slow against the wind and it picked up even further, literally stopped me in my tracks and pushed me backwards. Had to use the brakes to stop couldn't with my feet. Tonight - Thursday - was great! Calm but started raining. Felt so good took off my shirt and rode home! Left my reflective vest on at least but it flapped like a cape. That was a awesome ride.

I did it! I rode my bike to work on National Bike to Work Day! Yay.
Warm morning at 69F. Friday! More yay!

Yesterday I left work and was biking on a paved MUP. Up ahead I see a dude walking toward me, staring at his phone. He was staying to his right so I wasn't worried about him getting in my way or vice versa. But then I notice something that looks like a stick about 15-20 feet in front of him. He does not see it. Sure enough it is a snake just laying there, but with its head raised up. Phone staring dude was not seeing it and getting closer.

I point at the snake and say, "Watch your step!" He looks at me and then where I'm pointing and stops maybe 5 feet away from it.


He exclaims, "Whoa! Geez!" He steps back watching it closely. "Thanks," he says, as I ride by.
I look back and can't help but laugh at the whole thing. I don't know snakes enough to identify them, but it was pretty long (3ish feet) and black, but with some kind of markings I think. Unless it was just shedding maybe. I'm guessing it was probably a phone staring dude-eating anaconda.

National bike to work day. Here it's cold (45°F), rainy and extremely windy. I have a feeling it will be poorly attended.

Our local cycling organization really went all-out for bike to work day, and had things going on all week. Every day there were 5+ businesses giving away food and other items for people who rode in. There were organized rides nearly every night. There was a bicycle photo scavenger hunt. Between riding to work and to all the other events (and I didn't come close to hitting them all) I put in over 140 miles since Monday.

This morning I got up and road to my LBS for free crepes. Later this afternoon I'm going to swing by a coffee shop for a free drink and baked good. After work I'm going to the end-of-week celebration where they will award prizes for the scavenger hunt.

After all the fun this week, next week will kind of be a let down.

:lol: me too! Funny thing (not) is while the weather was beautiful all week it poured this morning, thunderstorms too. Turnout was sparse but some braved the weather.

I always feel smugly superior to these dabblers and had a chance to express my obnoxiousness. I'm part of the BTW festivities (give a bike blessing) and while waiting for my clergy colleague riffed a little with the crowd asking who rides in the winter - who rides every day in the winter - who rides over 3000 miles a year. The same 5 or so people (all of whom I know) raised their hands for each question and we all left triumphantly smug.

Well, back to cold and soaking rains. Thought I could time it between storms and skip the full rain gear, and paid the price in spades. Yesterday was national bike to work day? Had no idea, participated due to inertia (everyday is bike to work day).

Edit: I see my fellow Hoosier beat me to it on commenting on the IN weather!